Digest: the main news of the week
COVID-19 in Ukraine
The number of new cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine has been declining for the third week, but the fatality rate is quite high. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Health – Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin :
“Currently, the epidemic situation with COVID is stable and under control. For almost three weeks in a row, we have seen a significant decrease in the number of new cases of the disease. As already mentioned, almost 17,000 cases were registered last week. This is 26% less,” said Kuzin .
Help from allies
The United States of America announced a new military aid package for Ukraine. Its volume is 275 million dollars. It will not have a large armament, instead, Washington will focus on the supply of ammunition for weapons that Ukraine already has. In particular, we are talking about projectiles for HIMARS artillery missile systems, remote mining systems and cartridges for small arms.
Hunting for UFOs
The American space agency NASA has assembled a group of 16 experts who will investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena for nine months.
“Exploring the unknown in space and the atmosphere is at the heart of what we do at NASA. Understanding the data we have about unknown aerial phenomena is critical to helping us draw scientific conclusions about what’s happening in our skies,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, deputy administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Musk bought Twitter
Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. Photo: CNN
American businessman Elon Musk bought the Twitter social network. He announced this by tweeting “The bird is released”, referring to the logo of the social network. An eccentric rich man paid $44 billion to make the company his. He will now lead the company until a new management is found. Musk stated that he wanted to make the social network more innovative, friendly and hospitable. It is not yet known how exactly the billionaire wants to change the rules of publications. However, the European Union has already warned that they will carefully monitor that Musk does not turn the platform into a place for inciting enmity.
BLACKOUT in Kyiv and Ukraine
Longer emergency blackouts are being introduced in Kyiv. Photo: Vitaly Rubtsov
In Kyiv, they are introducing even longer power cuts for an indefinite period. DTEK reported about it. In the capital, there was a power deficit in the amount of 30% of consumption. And in order to prevent a complete blackout of the capital and central regions of Ukraine , Ukrenergo is introducing unprecedented emergency restrictions. Kyiv residents are advised to prepare for an indefinite power outage. Schedules of emergency shutdowns may not coincide, and new ones should be published from Monday. At the same time, the head of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko noted that it will take 2-3 weeks to stabilize the situation with electricity supply in the capital.
Stabilizing blackouts will also continue in Kyiv Oblast, Dnipro Oblast, Odesa Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast, Vinnytsia Oblast, and Prykarpattia.
Schedule – who to disconnect, when, in what order and for how long – determines oblenergo . Links to oblenergo sites are here: bits _ ly /3 gKWCdu .
Creation of hypersonic weapons
The Pentagon announced successful tests with hypersonic weapons. The tests took place in the state of Virginia, at the Sandia National Laboratory. This is a missile weapon capable of flying in the atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of 6,000 kilometers per hour and maneuvering using aerodynamic forces. It is considered a new generation of weapons, which deprives the enemy of time to react, and makes traditional means of anti-missile defense ineffective. The US is rapidly developing a hypersonic weapon after its rivals – Russia and China – have already reported on its successful testing and deployment.
Prices for products
By the end of the year, a number of products will become more expensive in Ukraine
By the end of the year in Ukraine, most likely, the price of cereals, bread, dairy and meat products will increase. And also – potatoes and eggs. Such a forecast was made by economic expert Oleg Pendzyn .
“Everything will become more expensive. We have 24% inflation in September. The National Bank and the Ministry of Economy stated that it will be 30% by the end of the year. The food basket will be somewhere under 38% of growth, ” Pendzin said .
Visiting Iron Arnie
Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra met with actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger . The artists are currently in the USA, where collect funds to support Ukraine. The Hollywood actor decided to invite them to his house in Los Angeles. He himself shared photos of the meeting on social networks, signing:
“It was fantastic to meet the Kalush Orchestra, Eurovision champions from Ukraine. You inspire me!”.
Kalush Orchestra met with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Photo: @schwarzenegger
The artists did not come empty-handed to Schwarzenegger – they presented him with a signature pink panama.
Nuclear training
In Russia, exercises were conducted on the task of retaliatory nuclear strike under the leadership of Putin. Training with the code name “Thunder” was practiced in Kamchatka. Intercontinental ballistic missiles were launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and from the waters of the Barents Sea at the test site there. Long-range aircraft were also involved, launching cruise missiles. The nuclear exercises themselves continue against the background of the increased risk of using nuclear weapons. The Kremlin has repeatedly made such threats.
The army of the northern countries
Sweden proposes to create a joint armed forces together with Norway and Finland , after joining NATO. They were prompted to do so by Russian aggression in Ukraine. According to Peter Hultqvist, the former Minister of Defense and now the head of the Defense Committee of the Swedish Parliament, the Kremlin will be a problem for the whole of Europe for a long time to come. Therefore, the candidate countries should take collective responsibility for protecting the borders with Russia. And that in practice the armies of the three countries functioned as one.
We will remind, Norway has been a member of NATO for many years, but the Swedes and Finns submitted their applications this May, after the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine. So far, 28 out of 30 Alliance members have approved their accession.
Text: Yevgenia Vlasenko
Photo: Freepik
